Ecuador May Day Marches Call to Oust the President

CUENCA, Ecuador – Unions used annual workers' mobilizations on May 1 to amplify their call for the removal of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso. Impeachment proceedings against President Lasso on corruption charges have begun in Ecuador's National Assembly. A vote in the National Assembly on whether Lasso should be removed from the Presidency is expected later this month.

“Lasso out!” was a chant that rang out as tens of thousands of workers hit the streets in cities across Ecuador. President Lasso is unpopular with labor unions because of his policies of austerity which have entailed massive cuts to government spending that have resulted in declining government services and layoffs of many government workers. President Lasso has also angered the unions with his attempts, so far unsuccessful, to change Ecuador's labor laws to make it easier for employers to hire and fire workers, and to hire temporary workers. The May Day marchers were less concerned with the specific charges on which President Lasso is being impeached than in just seeing him removed.

May 1 is International Workers' Day, or May Day. In Ecuador it is known as simply “Primero de Mayo.” It is a national holiday, as it is in most of the world, with the United States being a major exception. It is an annual event in which organized labor has historically given voice to its interests while parading proudly, but May 1 mobilizations in Ecuador where canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year sixty-one marches were registered in the country, according to the Ecuador's Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata. The largest mobilizations were in Quito and Guayaquil.

In Cuenca, Ecuador's third largest city, thousands of workers paraded in the city center. Union members and other workers gathered at Plaza San Blas at 8:00 AM. The procession went up Simone Bolivar Street and terminated at Calderon Park where there were speakers.

Leading the march was a contingent from the Unitary Front of Workers, Azuay Province (FUT), which is part of the largest labor union federation in Ecuador. “I agree with the removal of the President and think that he is not equipped to lead the country,” stated Rubén Baculima, President of the FUT of the province of Azuay. “This march is important because it continues the process of vindication of workers' rights. It is a march to demand from the government public policies for their benefit. We are submerged in insecurity. We don’t have the minimum necessary to live in optimal conditions since there is no health and not even quality education,” said Baculima.

“I think that Lasso is one of the worst presidents that Ecuador has ever had. With him, there is a lot of crime and a lot of corruption in the country,” said Julio Tenesaca, General Secretary of the San Jose Works Council, EMAC workers. Tenesaca also wants President Lasso to be removed.

"We are in a dramatic moment as a society, the socioeconomic situation of workers is unfortunate. Many are forced to migrate given the lack of job opportunities, job stability within the country,” explained Maria Augusta Hermida, Rector of the University of Cuenca. "This march is in defense of the workers who are the ones who sustain society and are the ones who earn the least, have the least social protection. It is a call to the leaders of the world and especially that of Ecuador to dictate measures in favor of the most vulnerable. In the streets you can see the dissatisfaction of the people by this march and that of April 27th, where 80 organizations marched to demand public investment in roads. Not investing in the public good is not the right way to go," concluded Hermida.

Not everyone agreed that President Lasso should be removed. While he agrees with criticisms of President Lasso, Marco Mendez, the General Secretary of the CentroSur Workers' Works Council, pointed out that, “Ecuador has gone through similar moments before, of political crisis that forces us to change the president and despite this not much change has been seen.” Mendez would prefer to demand that President Lasso alter his governing approach, change his Ministers, and be more empathetic to the citizenship.

Primero de Mayo has been celebrated in Ecuador since 1911 and was decreed a national holiday in 1915.